


Sakura Magic (Case 1_Los Angeles)

by bananamilkk



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: ABO, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Great Pretender AU, M/M, Omegaverse, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananamilkk/pseuds/bananamilkk
Summary: Omegaverse/ABO AU of Great PretenderMakoto has always thought he was a dominant beta, until he meets the enigmatic alpha- Laurent Thierry, hell-bent on trying to flip over his life.(The plot of case 1 is about the same, but it branches off a little at some points and a little of the conversations between the characters change + extra scenes in put.)
Relationships: Cynthia Moore&Abigail Jones, Cynthia Moore/Abigail Jones, Edamura Makoto & Abigail Jones, Edamura Makoto & Laurent Thierry, Edamura Makoto/Abigail Jones, Edamura Makoto/Laurent Thierry
Comments: 16
Kudos: 334





	1. Case 1_1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a small side project. I'll probably take some time to upload the chapters, so, please do bookmark this! This story follows the case 1_LA episodes and each chapter will follow each episode! This is adapted to fit the ABO genre and there will be extra scenes and dialogues! The first chapter doesn't have much change, except around the end! Then from there, chapter 2 onwards, there's quite a few changes. Hope you enjoy this one!

Case 1_1

The world is divided into 3. Alpha, beta and omega. Male or female gender terms were a figment of the past.

In the early 21st century, scientists discovered the downward trend in human reproduction had spurred on a genetic change in humans.

To aid the need for increased population, genders no longer exists. Instead, male and female soon became alpha, beta and omega. Males could give birth and female could inseminate.

When the news first spread, majority of the people were in denial—riots ensued and protests were held. Government authorities could only wait for the citizens to calm down.

Then, the first case of a male pregnancy happened, and like a tidal wave effect, more cases of what used to be abnormality surfaced—and soon, society changed.

Alphas, born with superior looks and reproductive organs meant to spread their seeds into beta females and omegas. Their superior intellect resulted in most of the world leaders to identify as alphas.

Betas, possibly those that haven’t gone through the change. Typically, a lineage of people belong to the beta category. Scientists presume that their ABO genes have not been altered and added into their DNA throughout the generations and perhaps, one day they would change and there would be a day where all humans are either alpha or omega.

Omegas—those responsible for child bearing. An important part of society, they are treated with care. But they are the ones that suffer the most. Unlike alphas who go into rut (depending on the situation, for a few hours), an omega goes into heat every month for 2-3 days. Omegas secrete pheromones that attract alphas and beta to promote child production.

Human rights movements started. With the uncontrollable secretion of sexual pheromones, omegas were getting attacked. Hence, came the creation of heat and rut suppressants.

Edamura Makoto came from a family of an alpha father and an omega mother. Even though rare, he was born as a dominant beta. Dominant and recessive genes are varying levels of certain characteristics of the 3rd gender. His mother suffered a lot with her heats after his father left and soon, she lost her fight with cancer—leaving him alone in the world at a tender age.

He never had to care about ABO genders since he never had much friends to begin with. He had smelt an omega classmate’s heat before, but he wasn’t that bothered by it compared to the other kids in his class. The whole class had to be sent home early because of that one student.

Apparently, it was her first ever heat. Typically, kids manifest their ABO gender at a young age of 10. Most of them still too young to weigh the gravity of the situation from the sexual education classes in school.

Makoto mingled with the alphas in his later years since those were mainly his targets. Rich, handsome and gullible men who think they have the world under their feet. Despite him being a beta, he could easily outsmart those “superior beings”.

Today, he was faced with a blonde foreigner. His LV wallet in his hand, he was ready to fib his way out of gaining a few thousands. It was all too easy. The dominant alpha was leaned up against a neighbourhood bar, his haversack carelessly put to his side.

“Excuse me, did you drop this?” Makoto spoke in English as fluently as he could. It had been a few years since he had spoke in foreign tongue.

“I’m sorry?”

“You better check inside,” Makoto handed him the wallet. The alpha turned his body to face him as Makoto stepped closer to the blonde man to hand him the item. The foreigner was taller than he expected, approximately 6”3, he stood a head taller than Makoto.

“Isn’t it yours?” The brown haired male smiled as politely as he could.

“Ah— it’s mine!” Kudo cut in. Their signal had been when the target had already looked into the wallet. He snatched the luxury item away from the 2 of them. The older man had an obvious drunken slur, pink plastered all over his cheeks.

Makoto easily pried the greedy fingers away, holding onto the wallet.

Amidst their squabbles, the blonde man had looked away, downing the rest of his already lukewarm beer. Makoto took the chance to switch the real one for the dud he prepared. It was all too easy, dealing with an unsuspecting alpha.

The foreigner turned back around, digging through his pocket for the extra cash he carries around.

“Here’s your reward.” He grinned, knowing the young man in front of him wanted some cash for his ‘good deed’. Makoto humphed letting go of the other’s personal belonging. He was fighting down a chuckle trying to make its way up through his chest.

White men were too trusting—always thinking of Japan as a country with low crime rate and subsequently letting their guards down.

“Thank you!” The blonde man beamed, maybe a bit too happily before enveloping Makoto into a sudden hug. The brown haired boy froze, shocked by the foreigner’s warmth. He could smell a delicious scent from the other’s neck, but before he could take in another whiff of the man, he had pulled away.

He watched as the light haired individual amble away, the obnoxious pink Hawaiian shirt still visible from a distance.

…

Pieces of fake cardboard paper flitted onto the tatami mats. Makoto blinked, dumbfounded at what’s in front of him. Cash was supposed to pour out from the designer wallet, not obviously counterfeit money.

“Did you mess them up during the switch?” Kudo gasped. His ran his hands through the fake paper, as if trying to conjure up any bills they thought they had conned off the foreigner from earlier.

“There’s no way I’d screw up!” Makoto growled. He hasn’t failed once in his 5 years of conning naive men in power. How could he have lost instead of gained just from trying to con that blonde man?

As the 2 bickered in the 1 LDK apartment, tires crunched against the gravel outside of the thin apartment walls. The engine cut off abruptly, Makoto could hear urgent movements hastily exiting the cars.

With adrenaline rushing through his veins, Makoto peered out of the small window gap to see numerous men in suits surrounding the apartment building. Those men were obviously here for him. The run down apartment he had rented out had barely any residents.

“What should we do? Can we wait it out?” Makoto scrambled to pack up his belongings, haphazardly stuffing his shoes into a bag pack and sweeping all his gachapon collectibles to bring along with him.

“We can’t! Let’s split up and run!” Kudo wheezed as he grabbed his most precious possession: his transmission dripper for his morning drip coffees.

“But to where?” Kudo asked, his head spinning but legs not moving.

“How about the ceiling?” Edamura zipped up his bag. He had already slipped on his shoes, ready to leave.

As expected, a knock came from the other side of the door.

“Edamura, stay safe.”

“Hm! You too!” Makoto nodded to the older man who was his temporary partner. He swung himself over the balcony railings—thanking god they were only on the 2nd floor. He jumped down, landing on the tiny edge of a Japanese stone partitions.

He was already sweating from the crazy burst of energy he experienced, but the police were near. His feet ran, hopping down the partition, he jumped the iron fences in front of him. His legs burned but he very much preferred his freedom. Soon, he escaped the tightly packed buildings, only to enter the residential streets.

A green commercial taxi was waiting for a passenger to get in.

Makoto looked around, spotting an afterimage of a black suit. He nodded firmly, before dashing towards the taxi and sliding in smoothly.

“I’m going the same way, so let’s share the ride!” He panted, before slamming the taxi door shut. The driver looked apprehensive towards Makoto, but started the car anyway, zipping out of the small neighbourhood street.

A sigh of relief escaped Makoto as his previous trouble was easily alleviated.

He turned to look, only to realise the man in the taxi had on the same objectionable pink flowery shirt and the same cocky look on his face as Makoto’s target from earlier. He groaned, wincing at the sight of the alpha.

Waving the designer wallet in front of the Japanese’s face, he gave a word of thanks in horribly pronounced Japanese, as if taunting the young boy.

“How did you take my wallet?”

“What are you talking about?” The foreigner chuckled and looked slyly at Makoto from the sides of his eyes. Those sapphire blue orbs stared into the young beta’s soul.

“It was **you** who said it was **my** wallet.” He shrugged nonchalantly at the sweat covered passenger.

Makoto could only lament and click his tongue. He looked at the man in front of him. He looked absurd with that sense of dressing. However, the foreigner had explicitly good looks, making the horrible outfit worth ten times its price. The foreigner had a playful smirk on his lips and evidently, Makoto had fallen into his trap.

“He’s also a swindler, huh?” Shaking his head, he turned to the view outside the taxi window.

The foreigner wouldn’t admit he was a scammer no matter how many times Makoto insisted he was one— but of course, who would? But to lie that he was a trader? What a joke.

“If that wasn’t enough, keep this. It’s delicious.” The alpha popped one into his mouth before placing a traditional metal tin of Japanese candy. It had been long since Makoto had even seen one of those around. There were plenty when he grew up, but with globalisation, they soon died out.

“Where _are_ we heading?” Makoto asked cynically, resting his head on his arm propped against the window. The view was the same old view he had been seeing ever since he grew up in the city, and the man beside him wasn’t ever going to admit that he was indeed a con artist.

“Haneda airport, and then, to LA.”

Los Angeles, well, it wouldn’t be that bad for the wanted man to skip town… just for a while.

…

It was undeniably impressive Edamura Makoto could finesse his way into getting on the same plane with Laurent Thierry. When the alpha had gone ahead and checked his items with the security check officers, he had already realised the poor strangers unluckiness with the planted weapons to be the clever boy’s trick.

Laurent didn’t expect him to go that _far_ , but he could only chuckle as he boarded the plane. However, when the Japanese boy entered the foreigner’s car, Laurent knew he was going to get what he wanted.

As they were stuck in the typical LA traffic, Makoto had leaned the car seat back, propping his arms behind his head, he yawned loudly. The blonde man in the driver’s seat looked at his companion, a playful smirk flitted up onto his lips. He was far too relaxed in front of a dominant alpha like him.

Since young, Laurent had always been shunned from his strong alpha pheromones he exudes. These pheromones typically gets released in small amounts—to signal other alphas of another alpha’s presence, but perhaps, something went genetically wrong, both of his recessive alpha parents gave birth to a far too dominant alpha.

It bothered him… but not too much these days. Laurent could only find fascination in the young man in front of him. Not to mention that lovely scent he could detect from Makoto’s body when he ‘took’ back his wallet.

“How long are you going to follow me?”

“Until I get my money back from you.” The Japanese boy said irritated by the foreigner’s question. The traffic wasn’t going to clear up soon and even though he had propped his legs up on the dashboard, the sports car wasn’t exactly comfortable.

Laurent laughed when Makoto said he was ‘Japan’s top scammer’. It was just too adorable for a boy much younger than him declaring such a huge claim.

“Your accent is very unique.” He said—in a rather condescending tone, even though he wanted it to come out as a compliment. And that seemed to only irk the younger boy further.

“What’s about it?”

“It doesn’t sound very Japanese. It’s like a weird jumble of different dialects,” Laurent paused, before looking towards his passenger, “where did you even learn that?”

The question only drove the younger man up the wall.

“Weird jumble you say?! Stop messing around!” Makoto growled, fumbling with his seat belt and launching himself towards the blonde man. He grabbed the ugly pink shirt in his fists, bringing in Laurent’s face close to his.

“Make me mad and you won’t get off easy!” The beta snarled, his breath so close to Laurent’s face, the alpha could even taste him.

Laurent watched as Makoto bit his lips, his face suddenly turning pink. Alpha pheromones filled the car, and even Laurent got a little too stuffy from the enclosed space. Laurent breathed in the saccharinely sweet smell that Makoto had started to exude from his body in reaction to his own. The sweetness even mingling on his tongue.

“So… cute.” He murmured softly. They were so close Makoto could pick Laurent’s comment up.

Makoto tightened his grip once more, his frown deepening. He wasn’t as hostile as before—perhaps from the dominant alpha’s pheromones.

“If you keep making fun of me, you’re going to be in so much pain.” He humphed, pushing the blonde man away from him. His hands were trembling against the older man as he looked dead into the sapphire orbs.

“Don’t pull, this shirt is expensive!” Laurent chuckled, placing his hand onto Makoto’s, seemingly trying to help stop the young boy’s shaking.

But before Laurent could even get the boy to calm down, the radio filtered into their ears.

_‘Movie producer, Eddie Cassano was released on bail for one million dollars.’_

“Hm?” Laurent reached over to his radio to turn the volume up. The man himself was replying to reporters giving a _clearly_ PR produced apology. Makoto rolled his eyes at another power figure—probably some corrupted alpha getting his way again with the power of money.

Laurent noticed Makoto wasn’t that interested in the news, so he turned the radio down back as background noise.

“Well then, I’m going to do some work.”

“Who are you swindling?” Makoto disdainfully. He just didn’t believe the scammer beside him could amount to much.

“I’m having an acquaintance look at the haul I got from Japan.”

Makoto looked at the dark blue haversack at the back of the car, sporting a playful smile on his face. He believed the blonde man couldn’t beat _him_ —the top scammer in Japan.

“All right, how about this? I’ll sell it at a higher price than you. If it goes well…” Makoto trailed off.

Laurent bit back a cheeky laugh, changing the gears to move the car. His hands smoothed over the gear stick as he thought. He couldn’t believe the Japanese male to be so within his expectations.

“300,000 yen?”

“And, you’ll become my henchman.”

“Doubling down, huh? Interesting.” Laurent loved a daring man—but he believed the border between being daring and a fool were only a finger’s width apart.

“If I win, you’ll be my assistant.” He added, wetting his lips. He couldn’t wait for the wet behind the ears—self-proclaimed ‘top scammer in Japan’ to be at his beck and call. He’d make the boy his.

“Okay! It’s decided!” Makoto cackled mischievously, thinking he had gotten the longer end of the stick.

Laurent could only watch as the cute novice scammer rub his hands in glee for the _interesting_ (subjective) future he had in front of him.

…

Both men stood at the gates of a luxurious mansion, wearing the same type of suit and the same gold watch—however, the outfit looking drastically different on both of them. Laurent looked very much like a high fashion model while Makoto looked like a university student wearing his first ever suit for a formal presentation. The thick boxy glasses he had on didn’t improve his image either.

“L-Laurent…” The blonde man had introduced himself earlier when they were at Macy’s shopping for clothes.

“Hm? Edamame?”

“Tsk, I told you, it’s Edamura!”

“Can’t blame me. Japanese names are too hard.”

While they were bickering, a small group of brute men were walking towards the visitors of the mansion.

“Wait, the people coming over look like gang members.” Makoto turned to look. The man leading the pack of towering muscled walls was a black man in an outrageously purple suit. His face was plastered with a frown.

“They actually _are_ gang members.” Laurent shrugged. His hand moved to Makoto’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. The beta jumped from the alpha’s touch—somehow, the area of contact burning.

“Hola amigos! Que tal!” Laurent made a lousy attempt in Spanish as the burly men stopped in front of Makoto and Laurent.

The leader of the group raised a brow, his hand moving to his waist to brush his suit jacket out of the way, exposing an imposing weapon.

“I don’t remember being friends with a _French_ guy.” He said, slightly disgusted at the blonde man’s stupid attempt at the language.

“ _Allez_ , don’t be shy.”

Makoto stared dumbfounded at his blonde companion. How could the man be so careless in frontof a gun? Was it the cultural difference? Makoto certainly had not seen much guns in person in his days as a con artist.

“Open up, I’ve brought samples. This is my friend from Japan.” Laurent grabbed Makoto by the shoulder, the same spot still hot from the alpha’s touch. Makoto gasped softly as Laurent tilted his head towards the shorter male. Why was he acting like this? Laurent was affecting him way too much.

Somehow or another, Laurent had manoeuvred their way through the imposing man’s guard and soon enough, the huge metal gates of the mansion swung open.

They entered, walking through the mansion’s first floor, they came out to a huge pool. Several girls were already eyeing the immaculate French man as they walked towards the poolside.

“Hey, that guy was in the news earlier!” Makoto held himself back from pointing at the man sitting by the pool of a lounge chair. He was uncomfortable with the various omega girls’ stare towards his companion.

“He’s part of the Hollywood mafia, and only a producer by name.” Laurent explained.

“You want to get involved with that guy?” Makoto gulped, second guessing his choice of entering that foolish bet with the foreigner. He had thought it would be some sort of fake designer goods to some illegal distributor in LA—but the mafia?

“W-what are you selling him?” His stomach did a tiny summersault.

“It’s this.” Laurent unzipped Makoto’s bag, taking out the Japanese candy he had put in himself earlier.

“Told you, Japanese products are high quality. I’m selling this for 5000.” He shook the pink candy tin.

Makoto didn’t know if he was in relief… or disbelief. He scoffed, cocking a brow towards the blonde man.

“Would he even pay 5000 for this?”

“Nope, not 5000. 5 million.”

It took a second for the young boy to count. 5 million dollars? USD? No—how much is 5 mill in yen?

“You mean 600 million yen?!” He almost shouted. He pressed his lips together, looking around. Luckily, no one was bothered to look over. Makoto couldn’t even imagine that vast amount of money. Top scammer of Japan? Laughable.

Without him noticing, the man himself ambled over. He had a pile of papers in one hand, his ever tired face wearing a frown. He mumbled a complain over the script he was holding as he sat down on the outdoor settee behind Makoto and Laurent.

“Abbie, get champagne for our guests!” The old (obviously alpha) man hollered to one of the girls in the pool.

“She’s a newcomer, she’s pretty, but she’s an idiot when she speaks.” Cassano clicked his tongue. The 3 of them looked as a brown skinned young girl pulled herself out of the pool. Water glistened on her skin as the sun shone. Her wet hair clung to her face but she easily ran a hand through her wet locks, sweeping them away. Makoto was hit with a scent of strong female alpha pheromones.

The young scammer couldn’t hear Laurent’s and Cassano’s conversation on the pretty girl. He was too entranced by the young alpha’s image. But was soon torn away, pulled back to reality by Cassano’s stare.

“You’re fairly young.” The older man commented as Makoto introduced himself.

“He’s always mistaken for a high schooler.” Laurent chuckled, taking a step towards Makoto. His body pressed against the sides of the younger male causing an unknown shiver to shoot down Makoto’s spine.

“Are you saying he made the goods?” Cassano had a face full of doubt. Makoto was indeed well known for his baby face. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to blend in with a group of teenagers.

“That’s why we call Dr. Edamura a genius!” Laurent patted Makoto’s back fondly.

Eddie wasn’t impressed and asked the blonde man to quicken his pace.

“Let’s get in order. Here’s the raw material.” Laurent held up a tiny packet of white powder. Makoto’s eyes widened as he tried to catch the gasp trying to escape from his lips.

What has he gotten himself into?

Abbie had offered the Japanese male a flute of champagne, which he could only take with nervous sweaty hands.

“Abbie, do you want to try it?” Cassano jerked his head towards the drug packet.

“Eh? Can I really?” The alpha female asked enthusiastically. Makoto could understand why Cassano made his earlier comment on the girl. Her hands were already reaching towards the ‘product’.

“Wait, this is a special recipe. You’ll die if you inhale it like this. That’s why it needs processing,” Laurent took out the tin can he got from Makoto.

The beta male could only feel himself grow faint. He… he was carrying drugs on him? From Japan to LA? Was he just a drug mule for Laurent? The man had royally stabbed him in the back.

“Snorting and injections are a thing of the past. Without further ado, here open wide.” He knocked out a pink marble shaped candy. Turning to Abbie, he placed the sweet into the girl’s mouth. She moaned as she closed her lips around his fingers, almost sucking the blonde man’s digits. Makoto saw this and felt way too bothered by it. He wondered how the alpha male’s fingers tasted like?

No—why does he even want to know? Makoto wanted to pull out his hair in frustration, but before he could even do anything, Abbie started laughing.

Makoto wanted to say something, but no words could come out of his mouth. He saw the girl in front of him throw the flute to the side, before jumping into the air. And wow, did she run. Her bare feet slapped against the marble poolside and she hoisted herself up into the air, swinging her whole body on the palm trees lining the mansion. She screamed in gibberish before summersaulting herself into the pool.

“A—W—Wha—…” Makoto sputtered. Cassano had the same look of disbelief on his face.

“This is the latest synthetic drug created by Japan, a leading country in pharmaceutics.” Laurent placed his hand over Makoto’s shoulder, herding him to face Cassano.

“It’s magic, or you could say ‘Sakura Magic’.” The French man smiled, shaking the tinned candies.

Despite Laurent’s crazy offer of $5 million, Cassano was starting to buy into the salesman’s speech. He could already imagine how much money he could gain from distributing such a delicacy in Hollywood.

“And who can make it? It’s this young expert from the Chemical Research Institute of Japan, the one and only… Dr. Edamura.” Laurent gestured to the still dumbfounded youngster whose jaws couldn’t seem to close.

Girls started crowding around Makoto and Laurent, their bikinied bodies pressed against the young male. He cleared his throat as he backed up, accidentally knocking against the taller man.

A light laugh came from the man behind him, and before he could even turn to Laurent, the man had put his hands on Makoto’s shoulders and asked him to open his mouth.

Well, he didn’t really ‘ask’, he ordered—before forcing the sweet into Makoto’s mouth.

The Japanese male fought as he pried the man’s fingers away from his face. Sweetness had already spread on his tongue from the drug. Alarm bells started going off inside him. What had he just ingested? The drug had already slipped down his throat and he could feel the hard candy travel down his oesophagus.

“Hey everyone, isn’t the doctor amazing? You’ll get higher if you swallow it whole.” He grinned at the girls who were enthusiastically clinging onto them, trying to get a share of the high.

Makoto was thinking. He was thinking hard on how to get the drug out of his system. His body was starting to get hot. Was it the drugs fault? He stared down at the tiled floors. He was holding onto Laurent’s hand, unknowingly leaning his weight on the French.

A familiar gold watch stared back at him.

Ah shit.

He lurched forward. He could feel something rushing through his veins. His eyes were watery and head disoriented as if he was just hit by a truck. What is happening to him?

“L—Laur…” He wanted to say, but when he landed his eyes on the blonde man, he was suddenly hyperaware. Everyone turned to look at the youngster.

Makoto eyed the crowd in front of him.

4 omegas.

2 alphas.

10 beta guards.

A choked gasp escaped from his lips as he felt the alpha pheromones… physically affect him. Makoto was scared shitless.

Is this the drug’s fault?

Is this how people feel when they get high?

He screamed, his voice hoarse and throat on fire. **His whole body felt like it was on fire**. As if dipped into a vat of hot wax, he was burning. He looked down at himself. He was… hard?

He needed to get away from the excruciating mix of omega and alpha pheromones around him. Makoto couldn’t remember much, but he ran. In a totally different way than how Abbie did. He was urgent, scared as if there was something chasing him.

The youngster attacked anything in his way. His groins were tight and hot. His skin felt like it was melting off of him. When Salazar—the big burly guard from earlier tried to grab his shoulder, the slightest touch from the beta male almost made Makoto fall to the ground… _wanting more_.

‘What is happening?’ Makoto cried inwardly as he jumped the iron gates, his feet bringing him far away from the scary mansion—as far as his legs could take him.

…

Soft pants could be heard from a back alley in the streets of Hollywood. A young asian male was crouched over, head in hands.

Makoto was trying his hardest not to take off his clothes and tend to himself. Since when was the drug an aphrodisiac? It got people high, not turned on. He grunted as he tore his hands away from his crotch. He was rubbing through his clothes rather enthusiastically like an animal.

“That bastard.”

“Talking about me?” A voice suddenly came from behind Makoto.

The boy made a sound of surprise, getting up feebly. His pants were wet—either from pre-cum or pee, he didn’t know.

“Don’t—Don’t come any closer. What the hell are you?” Makoto felt the same wave of alpha pheromones hit him. This time, harder. A knee gave in, causing him to support himself on a wall.

“We—were you trying to make me a drug smuggler?” He choked out. He didn’t want to breathe. If he did, Laurent’s scent would make him blank out.

“Stay back— I’m a black belt in karate.” He raised his arms in front of him, trying to put on a defensive stance. The blonde man was still silent, walking towards him.

He looked different. His sapphire blue eyes were no longer smiling, only a murky darkness left behind. Makoto could also tell that the alpha in front of him was trying hard to not… act out.

Makoto knew he had to make the first move. He mustered up his remaining energy, launching himself forward more with the laws of gravity than his own strength.

“Oops.” Laurent struck out a feet, tripping the weak boy—but before he could fall to the ground, the man hooked an arm through Makoto’s body and pushed his fingers into the boy’s mouth.

Makoto let out an audible moan—before realising what had just happened. He felt a pill at the back of his throat that was too late to spit out.

“Sorry,” He heard the man say before the arm around him let go, and his face neared the unwelcoming concrete pavement. Though like a string of unlucky events, he laid eyes on a well toned leg heading towards his chin.

“N— He couldn’t even get a word in, before he felt the harrowing pain on his chin and all his air escaping his lungs—and just, darkness.

…

Makoto opened his eyes to a beautiful mountain. Tiny houses were at the base of the scenic view—except, they were all upside down. No, he wasn’t in Australia. Edamura Makoto was the one upside down.

“H-H-HELP ME!” He screamed, his whole body wiggling against the rough rope that held his feet together, tied onto the letter Y.

“Nice, you’re screaming from the diaphragm.” A familiar French man’s voice shouted from… on top—below Makoto.

“LET ME DOWN! You’ll pay for this!” Makoto growled. He was more clearheaded right now and he could see the blonde alpha and his counterpart standing near the famous sign.

“What did you say?” Laurent taunted.

“Who the hell are you two?!” His voice far away and soft from where Laurent and Abbie were standing.

The blonde man laughed as he looked up to the young man on top of them. His plans were nearly foiled earlier, but Laurent was glad nothing happened. He smiled at the youngster, clearly angry at him.

“We’re confidence men.” He chuckled. He didn’t expect the boy to be what he was… but well, it didn’t matter to the greatest confidence man in the world.


	2. Case 1_2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I'm back with another chapter! Earlier than I expected haha. I normally pre-write the whole thing, but this time I post the next chapter when I'm done with the next. So, I'm writing 1_4 at the moment!
> 
> I've finished my Scamming the scammer series, so, if you'd like, please read it and share sum kudos ;)
> 
> Hope you enjoy today's chapter of Sakura Magic.

Makoto didn’t know if he was unluckiest person alive, or does he just have the tendency to meet scums.

His disgusting father committing rape and human trafficking behind their backs.

His rotten boss for pinning the blame on him.

The police officer that had literally coerced him into an unwilling confession, rubbing the fact that the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree.

The ignorant men that had rejected him off the bat without listening to any word he said—because they will be better off without a beta ex-criminal.

Or maybe, he **is** unlucky.

His mother lying on her deathbed in a dreary hospital without anyone around. He couldn’t even be with her during her last breaths and could only clutch the tiny gachapon cat she held dearly.

Him waking up by having a bottle of water poured on his face, lying under 2 of his captors.

And the world shattering truth of his identity. His secondary gender.

“It happens. It happened to me. Genetic mutation, that is.” Laurent said nonchalantly digging into his lobster slathered with a creamy garlic sauce.

“W—Wha—No, I’m not.”

“Say it, Edamame. Why are you so scared?” Abbie asked across the table. She had to take a short break from stuffing her face with seafood to speak.

“N-No! I’m not… not… not an omega.” He trailed off to a mumble.

“A dominant one, in fact.” Laurent added.

“How is it possible?” Makoto snapped at the blonde man that had brought him here against his will. If they were in Japan, he would have that foreigner locked up.

“You’re supposed to take after your mother—a recessive omega. But along the way, when the sperm dug its way through—

“Get to the point!” The youngster snapped impatiently. He clearly wasn’t touching his food. He had noticed the blonde man’s pattern to feed him… questionable things.

“Jeez, Edamame… Alright. Up til now, you were a dominant beta, am I right? However, how can a beta be born from an alpha and omega? You’d be either. That’s where genetic mutation happened. I’m not 100% sure, but you did inherit your mother’s omega gene. A dominant omega gene to be precise.”

“What? But no one can have 2 ABO genes in them!”

“Yes. That’s why you’re a late bloomer. With 2 dominant genes clashing against each other in your body. You took the role as a dominant beta. And that’s where you’re wrong. Some people do have a pair of different ABO gene. But one will be recessive, while the other dominant. Naturally, they’ll take the dominant gene. But yours, little soybean…”

“Little soybean? You scumbag.” Makoto wanted to vomit from that sickeningly sweet nickname Laurent had blessed upon him. He wanted to reach over the table and strangle the foolish man. But, they were in public.

Maybe somewhere more private would he then, enact his plan.

“Let me finish. You have 2 dominant genes. A rather rare—if not impossible mutation. I suspect because of that, you have not shown symptoms of your dominant omega gene till now.”

“Late bloomer.” Abbie added in a scathing comment.

“W—wha— Then! What did you feed me?! I don’t believe I’m an omega! You fed me that… that Sakura Magic and I became… became…” He couldn’t bring forth the words. Became… horny, hot and bothered—if that’s what you want to call it.

“You were already producing dominant omega pheromones when we met.”

“How is that…” Makoto wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t going to let the older man know he was certainly right. Makoto—who has never been affected by alpha pheromones had sniffed out Laurent’s sweet scent when the man had hugged him to get back his switched wallet.

The change had begun then.

“No… putting that aside. I swallowed that new drug because of you. Drugs were the only things I didn’t want to touch.” He sighed, his head in his hands.

Abbie had already reached over to take his uneaten lobster.

“It’s all over for me now!”

“You mean this? It’s really effective, huh?” Laurent laughed, bringing out the same pink tin from earlier. He popped off the lid with ease, taking out a pretty pink marble.

  
“What’s so funny?!” Makoto’s buttocks were already raised from his chair. He was ready to strangle the man in front of him—public or not. Suddenly, the same candy landed into his mouth, nearly choking him. He wanted to spit the drug out but was stopped.

“Is it orange or grape?”

Hm? Makoto felt the marble roll against his tongue, clinking against his teeth. The sweetness filled his entire mouth and an artificial strawberry taste perfumed his orifice.

“There’s no way Sakura Magic would exist. The powder on the tip of the fountain pen was just corn starch.”

“T-Then, what about you?” He asked Abbie.

The girl swallowed down her bite of food before letting her eyes glaze over and sticking out her tongue. A string of crazy drug induced gibberish came from the girl, before she went back to picking on her lobster.

“It was an act?”

“I thought you were acting too. To think you were actually panicking.” Abbie rolled her eyes.

“O-of course I was. I—I started getting… hot. I thought it was the drug—and I realised your stupid elaborate schemes!”

“What a cute swindler… but I was so nervous just now. Luckily, I was the only alpha that managed to pick up the early stages of your heat. And you did run away yourself. So… all’s fine I guess.”

“H-Heat?”

“Duh, heat. Is your head empty? Don’t you pay attention in school?” Abbie clicked her tongue.

“I… I didn’t know.” Makoto looked down at the table. Abbie had taken his plat away. An embarrassing gurgle came from his stomach.

Grabbing a lobster, he broke it apart, wishing it was the blonde man’s neck instead.

“Why did you use me?” Makoto muttered unhappily. If he hadn’t met the man, he might have still been living his ignorant life as a dominant beta.

“Cassano insisted I bring the guy who makes Sakura Magic,” He placed a cut of lobster into his mouth before continuing. “But I had troubles since I didn’t know any good swindlers in Japan.”

“We should’ve used the guy from our time in Miami. Was his name Yan or Yoh?” Abbie interjected, giving Makoto a look down. She clearly looked down on the newly omega male.

“That guy is Taiwanese.”

“They look the same.” She rolled her eyes as if that was her signature move. Makoto could only stare at her blatant racism with disbelief. Not that she cared.

“You were the best swindler the scout found.”

Makoto looked down to the gold on his wrist. The same watch on Laurent… as well as the elderly lady he conned with a fake water filter.

“So you noticed the hint? She’s Shi-won Kim, formerly known as Dynamite Body. She’s a first-rate con artist who sunk many men through the art of seduction.”

_Her_? Makoto thought rather rudely.

“Well, she still wants to be active.” Laurent shrugged as if he read the youngster’s mind.

“T-then, Kudo…?”

“Kudo? Oh, we won over that merry fellow easily.”

Makoto groaned inwardly. That rotten man and ex-boss of his could never keep his greedy fingers off whatever smelt like money.

“He’s a good partner, huh?” Laurent said. Makoto clicked his tongue, taking Laurent’s comment as a dig.

“By the way, the detectives who chased you were in on it. We had Kudo gather up his old friends.”

Of course, swindlers would always be swindlers. No matter partners or not. To think of it, the ‘police’ that were after him looked familiar. **He** had even worked with them before.

“Anyway, there’s no warrant for your arrest, so don’t worry.”

“Why did you do it in such a roundabout way?” Makoto sighed. He was starting to get an estimate of what Laurent’s personality was like. And straightforward wasn’t it.

“You could’ve just asked for my help.”

“it’s faster to drag you into everything. What’s more, it’s hard to resist training an honest, innocent boy who pretends to be bad. Little soy bean.” Laurent’s lips curved into an unreadable smile.

Makoto made a mental to note to get back at the slippery man one day.

“And of course, I know everything about you,” Laurent swished the red wine around his glass. “Including why you became a swindler.” He added, his eyes narrowing on the omega.

Makoto glared at the man. He knew Laurent wasn’t a simple man. But from his words, he could tell he could also be dangerous like a double-edged sword. Before Makoto could (this time, really) reach over the table to take the man’s neck in his hands to give it the same treatment he had with his lobster, Abbie interrupted them.

“The mafia’s doggies are searching the area.”

Makoto turned to look at where Abbie was staring. A group of men with Salazar as the head was standing near the beachside restaurant.

The party of 3 had to move sooner than they thought.

Laurent raised the bill for the waitress—only for Makoto to snatch it off the alpha’s hands. He handed the bill to the young waitress and told her the bill would be footed by the man on the other table. The white chubby man (the man he had accidentally bumped into earlier when they entered the restaurant) was clearly drunk.

Makoto waved and flashed a charming smile towards the unsuspecting individual, thanking him. The man could only wave back happily.

“I don’t want to be treated by you… You pretentious alpha.” Makoto had leaned in towards Laurent as he whispered those words into the blonde man’s ear.

Laurent chuckled, feeling himself get slightly aroused. Despite Makoto taking in heat suppressants (he force fed earlier), the dominant omega’s scent was still strong for someone who had a heightened sense of smell.

He watched as Makoto sauntered away, proud of himself, and he swore he would make Makoto his (maybe a _little different_ from how he meant earlier on).

…

Makoto listened confounded at Laurent’s and Abbie’s background brief of the target: Eddie Cassono. He was exactly a right fit to how Makoto viewed powerful corrupted men.

With his ability to corrupt innocent girls and his immense wealth, he rules the underworld of Hollywood as a huge player in drug sales. Makoto never liked illegal trafficking of drugs because those products that others hold so highly are the ones that are dragging them down. And soon, they become mindless zombies reliant on it.

If had this much money… Makoto sighed, it was useless to ponder on such an unattainable thing.

“You can’t cheat someone out of millions with ordinary candy.” Makoto scoffed after hearing the blonde conman’s plan.

“Why?”

“An adult wouldn’t get caught in that.” Makoto poured in the freshly boiled water into his coffee dripper. He had refused Laurent’s offer of white wine. They were very different in their tastes.

“Listen Edamame. Humans don’t always believe the truth in front of them. Like you did.”

“Tsk. Told you not to bring that up. We are over that conversation. O-V-R.” Sure, Makoto wasn’t taking the fact he was an omega all along easily. How could he? His life is turning upside down. He would have to experience embarrassing heats if he doesn’t get the suppressors.

He looked around the hotel suite at the 2 alphas in the room. One recessive, the other overly dominant. He clicked his tongue, realising he was the odd one out.

“It’s O-V-E-R, stupid.” Abbie yawned as she cut in. She was already filled to the bream with food and sleepy.

“I know. O-V-E-R.”

“People only want to believe truths that are convenient. Didn’t you Edamame?”

“HAH? I have accepted it! I have accepted that—that I’m an… an omega!” Makoto slammed his coffee cup on the glass table, twisting around just to glare at the cocky face.

“No, you haven’t,” Laurent smiled. He placed his glass on the bay window, taking a huge stride towards Makoto on the settee.

“You have to take your medicine, my little soybean. You’re starting to smell.” The blonde man leaned down, his face close to the omega’s. Makoto froze and a hiccup making him violently jump out of his skin.

“I— Don’t put it like that!” He seethed, pushing the alpha away.

“Yes, yes. Just take the suppressants and go to sleep. It might not help that much. Lock your doors when you sleep. If you wake up in the middle of the night exuding those delicious pheromones of yours… I think neither Abbie or I could resist.” Laurent touched Makoto’s face, his hands unexpectedly warm. His fingers brushed past Makoto’s lips and a moan forced its way out of the young male.

“F—F—F—Fuck you!” Makoto screamed as he got up from the settee, his coffee long forgotten.

“Ah! You’re the one who proposed the bet. And I sold for 5 million, in other words, I won. You are now my henchman.” Laurent stood up straight, looking directly into those furious brown orbs.

“Oh, yes. Don’t be so quick to return to your room,” Laurent grabbed hold of Makoto who was trying to vacate himself before he kills the French man. “The dinner bill from earlier, I was the one who paid for it. Despite how we look, we only trick villains.”

Makoto’s wrists burnt from the alpha’s touch. He clicked his tongue, jerking off the man’s hand.

“Stop touching me.” Makoto growled. He hated that he was starting to feel hot again… especially in the presence of the dominant alpha.

“Then, see you tomorrow. Abbie, be careful tonight.” Laurent smirked, before backing away. He was already turning towards the exit.

Abbie scoffed sticking her middle finger in the air, towards Laurent. She could already smell the omega male, but she definitely **wasn’t** going to do _anything_.

“Take your fucking meds idiot.” She muttered, before tossing to the other side of the settee, her back facing the speechless boy.

…

Those ‘meds’ weren’t working. Not anymore. Perhaps it’s because of his genetic mutation or somehow or another, a single dose of suppressants wasn’t enough and Makoto was afraid of popping another pill. He never ignored dosage recommendations on the packets.

He had heard that pills were inferior to that of injections since the potency decreases 3 fold when the formula is turned into a pill.

So, Makoto could only lay in bed, scared, clutching his a memoire of his mother. He could remember seeing her suffer in bed alone because of her heat. Commercial pills never worked on her, so she’d have to get jabs. But when she runs out of them, she couldn’t possibly ask Makoto who was 5 years old at that time to pick up suppressants for her, so she’d have to wait for her husband to get home late at night.

The young boy was so scared and thought his mother was going to die, but then, he grew up. He managed her prescriptions well, making sure she’d have backups.

He never thought he’d have to manage _his_ one day.

The Japanese male grabbed the box of pills Laurent passed to him earlier that day. With shaky hands, he popped open another.

  
“Fuck.” His glass beside the bedside table empty. He placed the pill at the back of his throat and willed himself to swallow.

He needed to get out of here. Laurent hadn’t come back from who knows where—and he could hear the recessive alpha sleeping on the settee. Once his smell subsides, he _could_ sneak out.

Makoto groaned as he switched out his underwear for a new one, stuffing the cum stained piece of clothing under the blankets.

He twisted the door knob open, holding his breath as he walked as silently as he could to the exit.

Suddenly, an arm hooked around his neck and knees were jammed to the back of his, toppling him over.

He gasped, feeling the arm tighten around his neck, cutting off his air supply. A pair of legs wrapped tight against his waist, rubbing _too_ intimately on his hard privates.

“Are you running, you trash?” Abbie snarled, her breath close to the omega’s ears. She was literally oozing out alpha pheromones. The suffocating odour suppressing Makoto physically. The musk clung onto him, dragging him down like quicksand.

“I was shocked that you’re Japan’s top swindler.”

“S—sorry about that. And who—who are you guys to call yourselves confidence men?” He cried under the girl’s lock. From the start, he found that term stupid. Like that idiotic blonde alpha.

“Acting like **you’re** warriors of justice…!” He coughed out, biting back a moan. The heels of her feet were digging into his crotch, causing waves of pleasure to disperse throughout his body.

“There’s no such thing as justice—I know because I’ve lived it.” He was going to pass out, but could only claw at Abbie’s strong arms with his feeble fingers.

That’s right. Where was his father when his omega mother was suffering from her heat and cancer? Probably raping some girl and dealing with shady businesses.

And where was justice when he tried speaking the truth? He was even spit on by some bigheaded beta.

“Living in Japan made you take peace for granted.” Abbie tightened her headlock.

“I need… I need to live a cunning life for… that peace!” Makoto grunted, his fingers finally managing to get that item from the girl’s pocket.

Abbie clicked her tongue, grabbing the bent medallion back from the omega.

“Don’t touch other people’s stuff.” She looked down at the omega, crouching on the floor, gasping for air.

“i don’t know why Laurent took a novice like you.”

“He didn’t ask you?” Makoto felt a pang in his heart. Like him? What did she mean? Like a third-rate con artist barely surviving with the money he extorts? Or like a totally ignorant omega?

“His ideas and lower body always control his actions. It’s bothersome.”

“Tsk. I didn’t ask to become an omega… nor did I even want to be recruited for this dumb job. You’re Laurent’s partner, aren’t you? Then…”

“—We’re not partners,” Abbie cut in rudely. “We’re all lone wolves. One mistake, and you’re gone. With your uncontrollable heats, I don’t know how you will be reliable. You can only trust yourself and that’s this world’s only truth.”

Makoto glared up at the alpha female. He could barely stand with her overpowering pheromones.

“Leave, you deadbeat. Go jerk off in your nest, you virgin.” She spat her words out like she had eaten something bitter. A frown marring her beautiful face.

“I—I—I’m not a virgin!” He shouted, his face getting pinker (as if that is possible with his flushed complexion).

“Yeah, right. I can smell it off you. Be careful out there, you virgin. Don’t get raped. They’re probably keeping watch at the airport.”

Makoto clicked his tongue, storming out of the room. He let the door slam behind him hard. Who cares if it’s in the middle of the night and other people are still sleeping?

“He’s so innocent.” Abbie let out an exasperated scoff, before turning back to bed. Edamura Makoto was a grown man—omega or not, he would handle it himself. What’s it got to do with her?

…

The smell of coffee entered Laurent’s nose as he started pouring the boiling water over the finely ground coffee beans.

“Good morning. Do you want some?”

“No.” Abbie replied, towel drying her hair. She had kept it short these few years, since it was easy to deal with.

  
“Did you let him go? I even gave you two alone time together.”

“What do you want me to do? Fuck him? He’s not my type. I could’ve strangled him to death, but I didn’t.” Abbie walked over to Laurent in her bra and panties. They had worked together for so long, it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like Abbie even cared if anyone saw her body.

“There it is,” Laurent chuckled. He picked up his freshly brewed cup of coffee, sniffing the warm nostalgic scent. But the lingering smell of an omega in heat still in the room. Laurent had found a delicious pair of underwear wet with the young male’s juices under his covers this morning.

He had to fight an urge to bring it to his face. He was a gentleman, not some crazed alpha that gave in to his… needs. Furthermore, Abbie seemed fine with the smell in the room.

“It would’ve been impossible for that virgin anyway.” She shrugged.

“What? Virgin?” Laurent blinked. His eyes travelling back to the dark blue briefs he had placed on the armrest of the settee.

“I… see…” He chuckled. He took a sip of the bitter liquid to stop himself from grinning like an idiot.

“I’ll also go down, so think of a new plan.”

“There’s no need. People have talents they’re born with. No one can defy that star called destiny. Whether they desire to or not. I’m sure Edamame will return soon… Plus, I have something to return to him.” He smiled towards Abbie who was getting dressed.

Laurent reaching over for that intimate piece of clothing.

…

“What are you talking about? The doctor is playing in the water with the girls.” Cassano deadpanned.

When Laurent and Abbie landed their eyes on the omega boy half-naked in the water, they really hadn’t seen it coming.

A smile tugging at the corner of Laurent’s lips, he really never knew the boy could smile like that.

“Here, it’s yours!” He laughed, tossing the beachball to a blonde omega girl.

“That brat raised the price.” Cassano sighed.

“He raised it?” Laurent cocked his head.

“He wanted double.”

“Double? He wanted 10 million…? Sorry, what an outrageous price.”

“I decided to pay it.”

“What?” Laurent’s feet stopped walking. He looked over to the carefree Japanese in the water.

“I contacted the safe keeper earlier, so it should reach you soon. An exclusive contract, right?” Cassano flashed a toothy grin, a little too happy with himself for settling such a ‘good deal’.

“A-Ah, of course.” Laurent gave a best salesman smile he could to the older male.

The alpha just walked away, laughing merrily from his belly.

…

“Hey, Doctor.” The blonde alpha made his way towards Makoto who was lounging by the pool. He was in a pink swimming trunks, his pale skin glistening under the sun. Laurent admired the omega, his eyes staying a little too long at Makoto’s pink nipples.

“You took your sweet time.” The brown haired individual sneered. Despite yesterday’s debacle with Abbie, he was no longer afraid of the intimidating alpha female.

“What’s this? You suddenly look more mature.”

“Of course! A man who sneaked into a big shot’s wallet and gained great riches. Japan had the best con artist in history too!” He beamed, tossing his gachapon figure to the 2.

Abbie peered over her companions shoulder, confused about the identity of the cheap green plastic.

“Sonny Chiba?”

“It’s not Sonny anymore, it’s Sunny.”

“You’re wrong! And it’s not Samurai Hiroshi either! That guy is Toyotomi Hideyoshi!”

Laurent and Abbie had impassive look on their faces, clearly not interested at all.

“To put it simply, he’s a man who went from being a farmer to a king. That’s Hideyoshi. Who care’s if I’m an omega. I won!” He cackled childishly once again.

“Now, come here, La-u-rent!” Makoto raised his arms behind his head, leaning back against the reclined poolside chair.

“Massage my feet.” He snickered at the alpha.

Laurent could only give an exasperated laugh. Massage or not, Laurent didn’t just want to massage Makoto’s feet… He wanted to ‘massage’ the omega’s body **all over**.


	3. Case 1_3

The DVD box was impeccable compared to the rest of the other movies available in the rental shop, which could only mean one thing. Eddie Cassano’s movies weren’t doing that well. Nevertheless, Makoto rented it out not before having the cashier shoot him a look at his questionable tastes in movies.

When the movie came on, he was impassive at first, but somehow, seeing the cliche plot lines and somehow likeable characters, he was immersed.

His hands moved across the pages quickly as he jotted down the plot of the corny movie that had way too much CG and high production materials compared to its subpar plot. But, it was the ideal man’s dreams. Explosions, guns and exhilarating car chases.

Well, to beat the man, you got get into his mindset.

Makoto tightened up his tie, staring at himself in the mirror. Luckily his heat had gone down with double doses of the medicine Laurent got.

He took another just then to be sure, before leaving the cheap lodge.

What he didn’t expect was for the brute beta male, twice his size to sock him in his gut— and him waking up in Eddie Cassano’s mansion. Well, he did. But not _knock him out_.

He put on the pitiful nerdy doctor act in front of the older alpha, and it worked.

“I was just just fed up with Japan… I didn’t care anymore.” He muttered, kneeling down in front of the unmovable Hollywood investor.

And he did take the bait. Makoto could only hold down a cheeky laugh before explaining his story.

“Those drugs were my everything. I spent years devoting myself to it, developing it for terminal patients. But it was trashed because it was too strong. My trusted colleagues stole what I have achieved. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Well, you wouldn’t understand how I feel. You’re an alpha—at the top of Hollywood, you have all these omega women after you, people wanting to work with you…” Makoto sighed. Coming up with a sob story was the easy part.

“You don’t know me.” Cassano frowned.

“I heard that you invest in crappy films as a cover.”

“Have you watched my films?”

“I haven’t, but that’s what they say.”

Cassano grunted unhappily, saying, “You’re criticising without watching them, just like the others”

As the 2 sat in the front rows of Cassano’s private home theatre, Scorching Fortress played on the huge projector. When Makoto first came in, he had to bite back an envious cry.

It was easy sucking up to the alpha male—well, he did kinda enjoy the movie anyways. Magnifying his interest in front of the creator of the film himself wasn’t that hard. Though calling them his bible was a little…

“‘Eddie Cassano has no taste in movies.’, ‘He’s only investing as a cover’, It’s all lies! You invest in films that you believe in. Without love for the film, you can’t make a place like this.”

The older alpha cracked a smile, his face (for once) lightening up.

“I’m flattered. I didn’t expect you to understand.”

“The drug I made is like a child to me. And to you as well, this movie is…” Makoto looked over to the screen.

“… like a child to me.” Cassano finished Makoto’s words, as if they were in a Disney movie and both of them the main characters.

“Doctor. Your Sakura Magic is a masterpiece.” Cassano stood up, facing the younger male. Makoto grinned inwardly.

“I’ve completely fallen for it. You can add to the price if you’d like.”

Now, this was an important milestone for Edamura Makoto.

“If you pay… double,” He looked Cassano straight in the eyes with unwavering conviction. Better to aim high than low.

“Double?! Ten million dollars?” Cassano raised his brows. “That’s absurd under any circumstances.”

Makoto knew. Of course it was absurd. But…

“How much would you sell your child for?” He turned back to get something from his bag pack.

“I’ll add this, the recipe.”

“Recipe?”

“Anyone can make Sakura Magic if you follow this. This is really everything to me. But I’m okay if it’s for you.” He flipped through the pages filled with scribbles he wrote down last night.

“Is ten million dollars too much?” The bait has been cast, only for the fish to foolishly bite.

“It’s too cheap.” The said fish replied.

…

“Sorry, but the money isn’t here.”

Eh? Makoto could only blink at the imposing alpha male sitting at the head of the table in the dining room. Salazar, as always stood at the corner of the room—if looks could kill, his eternal glares would already massacre everyone.

They were joined with a middle-aged man, a beta male that looked like he works a corporate job rather than for the mafia.

“Zapata is very cautious.”

“It’s a big transaction, so being nervous is normal.” Laurent smoothly cut in, trying to bring Cassano’s attention away from the dumbfounded look on the omega’s face.

“If you’re unsure, ask us anything.”

“Okay, I’ll ask. The name Makoto Edamura doesn’t show up in any of our searches.”

Makoto felt a drip of cold sweat trickle down his spine. He was trying to not let himself look towards Laurent and beg the alpha to help him out. _He_ was the one that had given him—a guy that looked like a high schooler, an identity as a _doctor_.

“How many experts do you think are in Japan?” Laurent just shrugged the question of as if it was nothing. Makoto hated to admit, but Laurent could lie better than he can.

“T-That’s right, and I’m not a fan of social media.” He piped in, voice cracking at the start.

“Japanese people are discreet and don’t expose their names online.” The blonde man added.

“That’s what we thought, so we’re conducting final checks.” Cassano took hold of his champagne.

“Final checks?” Laurent asked.

“We’ll get a report from Japan soon.”

“F-from Japan…” Makoto gulped, realising how deep he’s in shit.

The longest time he has ever waited was probably for his father to come back home when he appeared on the news. He didn’t want to believe it, so, he waited the whole night. An hour passed, soon, 8 whole hours passed and day broke… still no news of his father, not even a shadow.

However, the wait for a call from Cassano’s men in Japan seemed ten times longer than that. Makoto’s palms were sweating, and as if Zapata, the stuck up beta male sitting beside Cassano already knew they were all lying, had shot him upturned looks since the start.

Laurent smiled towards Makoto. His hands moving under the table to take Makoto’s fists that were placed on his lap.

Makoto looked afraid like a deer caught in daylight, but the alpha male just rubbed the omega’s knuckles that were already white from how tight he was holding his fists.

Whether the dominant alpha had used pheromones to calm down the younger male or not, Makoto didn’t know, but he could feel himself calm down.

Sure enough, Cassano’s phone rang. Makoto shook the blonde’s hand off his, getting ready to stand… and run, but Salazar, the imposing giant stood behind him, glaring down at the small youngster.

“Got it, good work.” The older man muttered into the phone before cutting it off.

Every step Cassano took scared the living shit out of Makoto, but sandwiched between a scary beta and an alpha who he was trying to run away from… he couldn’t possibly do it.

All of a sudden, the man hugged him. He gasped, feeling the older man’s rather warm embrace. Unlike how Laurent smelled, the alpha pheromones Cassano produced were less pleasant to his nose. It smelt like leather and musk, however, it didn’t appeal to the omega.

“Welcome to the Cassano Family.” The man slapped him on the back. Makoto heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the tension inside him release.

He had thought the older alpha was going to strangle him by hugging.

…

When he thought it was all over, they had to change location to exchange the money for the goods and recipe. And as if that wasn’t enough, he just learnt they were under the surveillance of the LAPD.

Makoto wondered when he’ll ever get a break.

They sent an empty limousine out first, as they watch the LAPD dogs follow suite, easily falling into their trap.

The group sat in a black conspicuous Mercedes, Salazar as the driver.

“The idiot took the bait.” Cassano grinned, his hatred for Detective Anderson clear.

“It seems like he’s not a complete idiot.” Laurent looked back. Makoto wondered how the alpha could even stay calm in a situation like this.

A white sedan clearly tailing them.

“Will there be a car chase?” Abbie asked a little too happy.

“We got a request, floor it.” Cassano chuckled towards Salazar. The bodyguard was more than happy to comply—which freaked Makoto out.

Passing through red lights, the white car behind them relentlessly sped up too.

Salazar, the daredevil, swerved and entered the opposite lane. Makoto never found his life fulfilling, but it wasn’t like he wanted to die… in a mafia car chase!

He tried grabbing something, only to fall on the blonde alpha’s lap.

“Oh, Edamame, you’re welcome to grab **that** anytime you want… but maybe not now.” Laurent gloated at Makoto whose hand had accidentally landed on the alpha’s crotch.

“What the— Shut up, Laurent.” The omega growled, but before he could say any further, Salazar had swerved again, avoiding an incoming car.

“Go faster.” Cassano ordered.

“Um! We should drive safely…!” Makoto tried to say, but could only see a huge lorry right in front of them.

A dying scream escaped Makoto’s lips as he lunged towards Laurent, hugging the other man’s torso. He felt the car go 90 degrees, before flipping back down, knocking all air out of him.

He stared incredulously at Salazar, half hating him for putting them in that scenario, another half impressed at his crazy driving skills.

Though, he wouldn’t say anything to the man, in case he encouraged him.

The car did a whole U-turn and the white sedan—who Makoto would say, did a pretty good job at following them, turned as fast as they could but were hit by an incoming car.

Makoto gasped, his butt off the seat to peer out from the back windows.

The car had totalled into a lamppost and the 2 police officers had exited (crawled out of) the car.

“That was an impressive crash…” Makoto was trembling from the adrenaline spike, but the rest of the passengers seemed a-okay.

He brushed off his suit, putting some space between him and Laurent.

“It’s like a scene from the Razzie Series.” Laurent laughed, nudging the omega beside him, closing the gap once more.

“T-that’s not what I mean.” Makoto grumbled.

Though before he could even bicker with the insufferable alpha, Cassano had made a call… to Detective Anderson.

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll wire it again. Buy as much Gucci or Armani as you want.” Cassano clicked his tongue, before cutting the call. “What a greedy man.”

Eh?

“You’ve got him on a leash, huh?” Laurent asked, to which the man sniggered.

“He couldn’t catch you for years, so it makes sense!” Abbie giggled.

Whereas Makoto could only blink, a confounding look on his face.

“Cheers to Los Angeles.” The older male joked.

Cheers indeed. To car chases… and his extreme luck for still being alive, Makoto sighed as thought to himself.

…

“Are we doing the exchange here?”

They had entered a shady part of town, a few hours of empty streets finally gave view to a less fortunate part of Los Angeles. The car turned into a factory building guarded by slipshod men.

“That’s right.” Cassano replied.

“What is this place?” Makoto looked around. The factory was run down. The exterior peeling and graffitied with bad art. Most of the windows already broken.

“It’s a cider factory.”

“I love cider!” Abbie cut in. Makoto felt his mouth dry as he pondered over the fact how the dead serious—scary, recessive alpha female could change 180 so quickly.

“That was before, now we make something else.”

Heart to the operation, a drug refinery laid out in front of Makoto’s eyes. If someone were to ask whether he was scared, he would shout no and ask them back that question, but in actuality, he would be sweating in his balls.

Illegal drugs weren’t absent in Japan, just uncommon, rare and condemned and shunned by the society, media and its citizens. Seeing such a vast operation in front of him just reminded him of how intimidating Eddie Cassano is.

“Doctor, give me the recipe.” Laurent stuck his hand out, which Makoto had to pull himself out from his messy thoughts. He fumbled through his bag to get out the notebook.

“I don’t need that anymore.” Cassano said.

“What?”

Makoto couldn’t make out what the man in front of him was trying to say, but to boil it down, Cassano wanted **him** to prepare _‘Sakura Magic’_ in front of him. Makoto felt faint.

  
The heavy hand of his shoulder made his knees want to give out. The alpha neared him, his face inches away.

“You’re going to make Sakura Magic for us **here**. _Right in front of us_.” Cassano ordered.

Shit. He’s head deep in shit.

“If you succeed, I’ll give you the money.” He says. Those words not entering the omega’s ears at all. If the ground could open up and swallow him up right now. It’d be great.

Unfamiliar equipment laid out in front of him under a bright fluorescent lamp, Makoto could only grip the notebook soaked in his sweat from his palms.

He hadn’t even taken chemistry or biology classes.

“I-I can’t. I can’t make it.” He said in a soft voice. Multiple pairs of eyes were on him.

“What do you mean you can’t make it?” Cassano asked, rather impatiently. His warm embrace earlier clearly just a whim.

“I-I can’t make it in such a dirty workplace! It’s unsanitary, and the measuring tools are unacceptable!”

If he does have a merit, it would be being good at bullshitting.

“It’s not a big deal.” The man grunted.

“That’s why you can only make inferior goods!”

“What did you say?” Cassano’s frown only deepened.

“Eddie, you’ve never seen his lab, right?” Laurent interjected. A ton lifted off Makoto’s shoulder’s momentarily.

“It’s clean, without a speck of dust, and with his finely tuned tools lined up nicely.” Laurent dragged his finger through the thick grime and stain on the table. He blew, only for dust to disperse in the air.

“it’s like an operating room.”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right! I make each one by hand,” Makoto chimed in. “The procedure requires a lot of care.”

Abbie made a comment about some Japanese chef in a movie, only to get shut up by the older alpha.

“T-that’s right! Japanese people are careful. They’re fine with small rooms, but they hate dirty rooms.” Maybe this was pushing it… evident from the doubtful look on Cassano’s face.

“So?”

“I think he’s saying he can only make Sakura Magic in his personal research lab.” Laurent said.

“Sorry, Doctor,” Cassano sighed. “Of course, you can’t make that masterpiece here.”

  
“I’m glad you understand.” A sweat droplet trickling down from his forehead, Makoto could only hastily wipe it off. It was getting a little hot in the run down factory.

“Let’s renovate.”

Eh?

  
“We’ll replace all the instruments. We’ll renovate this place into the exact replica of your lab!” Cassano rambled on, suddenly excited all on his own.

Eh?

…

Even though Laurent had offered up his hotel for Makoto to stay in while the renovations would be going on, Cassano still insisted on Salazar’s place.

Staying at the obnoxious alpha’s place or at a scary mobster’s house? Which was better?

In conclusion, he was fucked.

Whether the old alpha had plans keeping Makoto under his thumb by having his man ‘look after’ him or not, Makoto couldn’t possibly stay with that… mobster.

Betas were the least sensitive in sensing heats and ruts from omegas or alphas, but that didn’t mean he’d not get affected. And he didn’t want this monstrously tall male anywhere near him if he were to break out in his heat in the middle of the night again.

“No, no, no, I’m telling you it’s fine! It’s fine, really!” Makoto’s stereotypical Japanese courtesy fell on deaf ears as the car made its way to the destination where his death would take place.

This is the worst.


	4. Case 1_4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 2nd last chapter of this series! Might extend it to case 2 and 3, but we'll see. Case 1_5 is not going to come anytime soon though, because I'm having tons of uni mid-terms and projects rn, so... maybe I'll update next or the following week. So, be sure to bookmark and leave a comment! Thanks!

“Here.” Laurent stuck out his hand, a piece of cloth in his fist.

“What…?” Makoto reached over. He had thought it was a self-defence weapon or something— to help him with his time in Salazar’s place.

But it turned out to be something he had disposed of. In the hotel room.

Bright red soon filled his face and his brows deepened into a frown. He was trying so hard to keep himself from grinding his teeth at the frustrating man in front of him.

“Y—You… You… fucking scumbag!” Makoto yelled—in an audible whisper. Salazar had already taken his suitcase, unlocking the door.

Laurent had insisted he see the omega off, while Abbie had stayed back in the hotel, giving no fucks.

He had wondered why the alpha male was being so… caring.

“Oh, s'il te plait. I’m just returning the item you’ve misplaced. On my bed.” A devilish smile spreading from cheek to cheek.

“Thierry, you asshole. Don’t make it sound like I—I—I slept with you. I’ll never do that. Ever.” Makoto growled, grabbing his underwear and stuffing it in his back pocket.

“Hm… Don’t worry ‘bout that, ma chérie.”

“Stop it with your stupid French. I know you’re calling me idiotic names.” The omega snapped, ready to turn around.

“Makoto,” Laurent grabbed the Japanese male’s wrist, pulling him back. “Take this. And relax, Salazar won’t do anything to you… unless you run away.” He stuffed another pack of suppressants into Makoto’s hands.

The young omega stared up at the blonde man. Well, he does have _some_ conscience.

And he was afraid. Deep down, he felt touched the alpha was doing this for him.

…

Always be lawful.

Contribute to the world.

Be a respectful person.

“Well, what’s more important than studying is morals.”

He hated this sentence.

The sky was dyed orange, the streets the same sickening colour.

  
He was still a wee-child, with no worries in mind. Atop his father, he felt like he could conquer the world. He could see so far ahead when he’s on his father’s shoulders.

If anyone were to tell him now, that his father had spoken such words, he’d laugh at their face. But somehow, he remembered.

Needless to say, he didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

He looked around the unfamiliar room.

It looked like a normal bedroom, but the table side was filled with kid’s toys. Out of place.

A family picture of Salazar with his wife and kids placed in the middle of the mess.

A pang of loneliness? Sadness? hit him. Well, he has to get ready to leave with Salazar soon, no time to ponder over his feelings.

…

The car pulled up once again at the familiar factory. This time, the windows were already sealed back up, the exterior painted in white. It was overall much neater and less intimidating than when they visited last night.

Makoto wondered how Cassano even got men to work on this so fast. He had thought he’d be able to drag this further and think of a plan to escape.

Laurent, seemingly knowledgeable on the laboratory equipments, directed the head of the renovation employees on where the equipments would go on the blue print.

“Doctor, where should the water filters go?” Laurent turned to ask him.

What _do_ the water filters even do?

“What? Uh, maybe here?” He pointed to an empty space in the blue print. Heck, he doesn’t even know how to read a blue print.

“How long will it take?” Cassano asked. He was sitting, smoking a cigar.

“If we have two weeks…” The renovator said, meekly.

“Do it in a week.” He puffed out a huge cloud of bitter smoke.

“Yes, Mr Cassano.”

“Doctor, enjoy Los Angeles until then.”

“Yes sir!”

“Salazar, make sure he’s entertained.”

_Entertained?_ Makoto was skeptical if the older alpha and him even have the same definition of entertainment.

“Let him give you the full treatment. I’ll miss you, Edamame.” Laurent leaned into Makoto’s ears, whispering in a low voice. His voice made the Japanese youngster shiver. But his pride made him swat the irritating blonde away, before turning to the exit.

“What is your plan?” Makoto frowned, looking at Cassano entering the limousine they came in.

Laurent had gotten him in this mess, he sure hoped the arrogant alpha has a way out.

“Can you cook well?”

“What?”

Oh shit. One look on the blonde man’s face and Makoto could tell it was something he wasn’t going to like.

…

He was sure he popped in two pills before he had slept, but here he was, scared awake from a wet dream with a certain blonde alpha… and perhaps because of Abigail Jones had cut off his air supply to deliberately wake him up.

Makoto struggled, his eyes still blurry from sleep. He was understandably hard. A wet spot in his pants.

Abbie stood beside the bed, looking down at him with clear disgust.

“Shh.” She was fighting back the urge to smack the omega gasping for air.

The room was filled with omega pheromones, but luckily, she had came in through the window. The cold night breeze aired out the stuffy room.

Abbie was holding out an i-pad towards Makoto.

“Laurent?” Makoto raised a brow. The screen had the blonde alpha on the other end, waving like an idiot. A nonchalant smile still on his lips.

“Hola. Que tal? Ed is an expert at making drugs. Okay, let’s get cooking.” The camera—seeming a pre-recorded video instead of a video call, panned to a middle aged black man in neon clothing. He was a little too enthusiastic for Makoto who had just been suffocated awake.

He knew he wasn’t going to like the alpha’s plan.

Drugs were the only thing he didn’t want to touch, and yet he’s here learning how to make them. So he could survive.

“What is this?” Makoto turned to Abbie. He had put on headphones to listen to the foolish video.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s the Sakura Magic instructions.” Abbie, not bothering to look up from her phone, answered.

“There’s no such thing in this world.”

“So you’ll make something similar. It’s your job.”

“There’s no way I can make it.”

“Learn it.”

“Don’t be crazy!” He had to hold himself back from yelling. Salazar was sleeping downstairs after all.

“If we produce and sell real drugs, this isn’t even swindling anymore!” Makoto sighed. Maybe that man wasn’t that great of a ‘confidence man’. He had even put his hopes on him to get him out of here. Looks like it’s not that simple.

“It’s not real,” Abbie clicked her tongue. “It’s a fake Sakura Magic.”

“But drugs are drugs.”

“That’s true.”

“That makes us drug dealers. You call yourself confidence man?!” His voice no longer a whisper. A sudden loud thud could be heard from below, freezing the omega male. He blinked in the darkness that wasn’t no dark due to the street lights outside. No further footsteps or movement could be heard from Salazar.

“When I think about it, you’re the one who sold the recipe.”

Makoto made a disgruntled sound. True, he did. But… Wait, why does he even trust the blonde alpha to get him out of this mess?

  
They barely know each other. Sure, he has been nice to him at times, but it seems more superficial than real. Who knows what the blondie’s thinking? For all Makoto knows, Laurent’s just trying to get into his pants.

“It’s annoying how novices get full of themselves.”

Makoto felt a pang of hurt from the girl’s words. He had been working as a con artist for years now. He isn’t a novice.

“W—Wait, I can’t do this alone.” Makoto said, a little more vulnerably that he intended. He cleared his throat desperately.

“I don’t get involved with drugs.” Abbie said, she was already perched on the window sill, ready to leave the omega.

“Me neither!” Makoto cried. But Abigail had already jumped.

His irritation towards his ‘team mates’ were eating away inside him, the weird omega heat thing in his body just amplifying it.

…

He had thought Salazar’s entertainment would be the burly dude staring him down and threatening him for some reason. But it was more… normal than he expected.

Hollywood boulevard first, then a baseball game.

He wasn’t a fan of baseball, but sure, whatever the man decided.

Makoto held a hot dog and drink in his hands, plainly staring at the huge vast field. They didn’t have the best seats, so the players looked like miniatures, running around.

The conversation with Salazar was bland. Something about hot dogs.

Makoto mustered up the courage to ask the beta, “Can I ask you something private?”

“Sure.”

“Where do your wife and kid live?”

Makoto saw the stern face flinch for a second, before his brows went back to the position of an eternal frown.

“My wife died in an accident.” Salazar said, biting down on his straw. It was clearly still too fresh of a memory for the man.

“And your kid?”

“With social services.”

“Can you see him?”

“I see him once a week, on Sundays.”

“Isn’t that today?”

“I have work.” The man grunted, his eyes back to the field.

Makoto felt a little guilty. He had seen the kid from the picture framed on the bed side table. He was still young. Far too young to even have any knowledge on what his father’s doing. Makoto thought back to _his_ father.

And that dream he had the night before.

He could imagine Salazar loving his kid very much. Seiji Ozaki on the other hand, never had any family pictures around the house. He should have known his father wasn’t the loving father he thought he was.

“You said I can tell you if I want to go somewhere, right?”

…

Salazar was a different man in front of his son, Tom. No longer sporting the eternal frown on his face and intimidating tone in his voice, he scooped the small boy off the ground, laughing with his son.

Tom and Makoto hit it off unexpectedly well. He never thought he’d be good with children, but here he is, listening to the small boy chat animatedly about ninjas, samurais and explosions. Who knew where the young boy learnt it from?

They ended up in an amusement park. Salazar had asked him where he wanted to go even when Makoto gave the beta full rein of the day. He suggested an amusement park for Tom. However, what he didn’t expect was how much rides differed from Japan compared to in America.

Needless to say, the rides were hell.

Before he could even get ample rest from the rollercoaster of death, Tom, sitting on his father’s shoulders, was already eagerly pointing out new rides on the map.

They ended up in front of a whole row of capsule toy machines. Makoto hadn’t expected America to have gachapon too. Tom ran over as quickly as his short legs could carry him with a few coins from Salazar.

“A capsule toy, huh? I love them.” He squatted down to see Tom twisting the ball open, revealing a green figurine. Guess they have it worldwide.

“It’s a gangster…” Tom pouted.

“You don’t want it?” Makoto asked.

“Yes, if only there was a bodyguard like Dad.” Makoto felt a pang in his heart.

“But he’s just like this gangster.” Salazar was indeed no different from the small green man, donned in sunglasses, a suit and rifle in hand.

“He’s completely different. A bodyguard protects VIPs. That’s way cooler than the policeman and the FBI.”

Makoto kept the smile on his face, he wondered how Tom would react if he knew his father was in the mafia. He hoped Tom wouldn’t be disillusioned. He didn’t want another kid like how he was.

The Japanese male dug through his back pocket, taking out his Hideyoshi figure he got back home.

“Wow, a samurai? This is so cool!” Tom gasped. He took it from Makoto’s hand, bringing it up to his face. His eyes admired the tiny figurine, glittering in adoration.

“I’ll trade for the gangster.”

“Hooray! Dad, look it’s Mifune!” Tom giggled.

“You know your stuff, huh.” Salazar cracked a slight smile.

As Tom raved about the samurai in his hand, Makoto turned to head to the toilet.

“Hey—

“I don’t need a guard for the restroom.” The brown haired male said, waving his hand nonchalantly. He wanted to give Salazar and Tom some time alone.

…

The toilet was empty, except for the sound of his pee hitting the urinal. Makoto could escape right now, but somehow he didn’t.

Tom reminded him too much of himself. But he felt a tinge of jealousy toward the young boy. He had a father that loved him while he hadn’t. Who cares if they hid their identity? Makoto hoped Tom wouldn’t hate his father if he found out the truth.

Without warning, before he could even pull up his underwear, a hand covered his mouth.

“Don’t struggle.” Anderson stood in front of him, with 2 men holding Makoto down. How could one not struggle in this situation?!

Makoto looked around. He was held down by 2 unknown men.

“Hey, your cute little Thumbelina is showing its head.” Anderson muttered as his face neared the omega male.

Makoto gave a muffled yelp. Thank goodness his heat was almost over. Anderson had his alpha pheromones on full blast.

Anderson moved his hand down to Makoto’s pants, zipping it up.

He then flashed his LAPD badge.

“Wait here.” Anderson pulled Makoto by the arm, his fingers digging deep into the omega. He threw him into a stall, and slammed the door shut.

Makoto had no intention to run away, but he could see the alpha’s feet from the bottom gap of the stall. Has Anderson found out about his identity?

Though before he could even think of his next step, the door swung open again, this time, revealing a beautiful red head.

She was slightly older than Makoto. With a pantsuit and glasses on, she looked like an office lady. However, a different badge than Anderson was clipped onto her waist. FBI.

“Edamura Makoto. I’m Special Agent Dickens from the FBI.” Her voice was sultry, sweet like honey.

“May I ask a few questions about your relationship with Cassano?”

“What is this about?”

“Cassano’s honeymoon with the LAPD is over now.” Dickens folded her arms, leaning against the door.

This was getting rather complicated. Makoto had thought it would be a simple job of trying to sell a product at a higher price to a buyer. And now, not only is the mafia and drugs were involved, the FBI too?

Makoto would really like to kill stuck up blonde alpha.

“I heard from the guy over there.”

“You’re making drugs for Cassano, right?” Anderson asked.

Well, not like he could not.

“I haven’t made anything yet… No, I have no intention of ever doing so.” He mumbled.

“No, you’ll make them.” Dickens cut in.

“What?” Makoto looked up at the red head.

“We know everything. Including the fact that Laurent is just using you. Our goal is to arrest Laurent and Cassano together.”

“The quickest way is to catch them during the exchange.” Anderson added.

“That’s why we want you to properly make the candy.” She smirked.

“B-basically, you want a spy for your investigation.”

“If you help us, you’ll return to Japan on a plea bargain.”

That’s right. This whole project had been blown out of proportion, it simply could not have escaped the prying eyes of the police.

He had walked right into Laurent’s ploy.

But why was he feeling so reluctant to turn the alpha in? Was it because of the momentary kindness from the man? But if he were to count, the times Laurent pissed him off far outweighs the times Laurent was good to him.

Was it the pheromones?

Out of all the alphas he had met, Laurent was the only one that smelt the best to him.

“What if I refuse?” Makoto swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat and asked.

“They’ll have their way with you in the slammer. They love a good omega ass.” Anderson was a crude man, but the comment only made Makoto’s blood boil.

He was unexpectedly more angry than scared.

Makoto’s pocket started vibrating—his phone, to be exact.

“Not answering?”

“Laurent’s only being kind on the outside,” Dickens dug into Makoto where it hurts. She waved a grey spectacle case around. Makoto knew. He knew the alpha didn’t even treat him as an equal.

“It’s a simple transmission gadget,” She explained. “I matched your brand. Put it on when you decide to help us.”

Without saying anything further, they left.

Makoto stared down at the thick rimmed glasses. It looked exactly like a normal pair of glasses—exactly the same as the one he wore on his face.

…

To say he was surprised to see Abbie in his room, wouldn’t be right. He was desensitised to how the alpha female moved. She was always so quiet and light on her feet.

“I didn’t know you liked kids.”

“Leave.” The last people he wanted to see is anyone related to the blonde alpha.

But Abbie threw something to him before he could even adamantly protest any further.

This time, instead of an i-pad, it was a phone.

“Hola, que tal?” As if the man himself was a pre-recorded message as yesterday, he started off the same way with the same Spanish words. Or maybe Laurent just knew these 3.

“I heard the factory will be finished soon. Are your studies going well?” While Makoto was trapped in a mafia member’s house, Laurent was sipping white wine in a hotel suite.

Makoto could barely hold his irritation in as he gave a careless reply.

“Who knows.”

“Just make it similar. Once we get the money, we’ll escape right away.”

The omega couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Who was the one doing the dangerous jobs in this shitty plan? If he were to get caught, Makoto would be the one convicted of selling _and_ making the drugs, while Laurent could just easily escape.

“I hope you suffer one day.” He clicked his tongue.

“I agree.” Abbie sighed, plopping down on the bed.

“Whatever you say—Oh, right, it sounds like the FBI has started moving.”

“You didn’t tell me.” Abbie grumbled.

“I’m telling you now. An acquaintance said Pola Dickens is running the show.”

“Pola Dickens?” So, her first name was Pola…

“The FBI’s hotshot old hag.” Abbie rolled her eyes.

Dickens didn’t look that old to Makoto. She was even pretty. Like an _onee-san_ type. Perhaps, since Abbie was younger than him, she’d view the beauty in such a way.

“I don’t want to play around with her.” She got up from the bed.

“Well, it’ll all work out,” Makoto hated how the alpha was all nonchalant.

“Buenas noches.” The blonde cut the video call without warning. Well, it looks like Laurent knew more than the 3 Spanish words.

…

“Laurent…”

“Hey, you’re late.” The alpha was busy stuffing sushi in his mouth at the party Cassano held in celebration of the new factory.

“I want to talk over there for a second—

“Oh, Doctor. The renovations will finally be done tomorrow. We’re holding you a sushi party in celebration.” Cassano hooked his arm around the shorter male’s neck, interrupting him from getting Laurent’s attention.

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll make me loads of Sakura Magic. I have high hopes.” He whispered into the omega’s ears. His grip on Makoto a little tight.

“Everyone, listen!” Cassano slipped away from Makoto, making his way to the middle of the room. His imposing presence made everyone turn their heads away from whatever they were doing to listen.

“The ladies and gentlemen here are all part of the Cassano family. Our bond is stronger than any moneylender or actors guild.” Cassano’s loud voice bellowed through the open space.

Everyone started applauding, so Makoto did too, rather nervously.

“Allow me to introduce a new family member. A young candy maker from the east, Dr. Edamura.”

So now they’re calling drug makers, candy makers??

“Although it’s personal, I was arrested by those pigs the other day. But I wasn’t indicted in the end. It’s obvious, who can put me in jail? Not a singe person on Earth. Of course, it’s not just me. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on any of our family members.” His speech wasn’t long nor superficial, but filled with false promises—in Makoto’s opinion. Of course, he kept his mouth shut.

“But what if someone tried to set me up from the shadows, despite receiving my protection?”

Makoto was sure Cassano had said such a statement directing it towards him. Unexpectedly, the man had a good sixth sense… or maybe, it was the teddy bear.

Those beady eyes stared into his this morning. The bear was gutted, a camera stuffed inside with a tiny lens in its mouth.

“What if someone betrayed me? Wow, what a guy. Is there such a traitor? Abbie?”

Makoto was shitting his pants. He was a seasoned scammer—but not one so seasoned that he could maintain a straight face in such a situation.

Did Salazar report to Cassano, or not? Are the 3 of them going to get shot dead in this party? Will Cassano even spare him if he sells out the other 2? Stating that he doesn’t have anything to do with them? That he was forced?

“There’s no way.” Abbie said confidently.

“That’s true, right, Laurent?”

“The only one who would overreach like that is me.” Laurent scoffed.

Cassano laughed at Laurent’s comment. His laughter rumbling upward from his chest and echoing throughout the high-ceilinged room.

“You never change,” The old alpha turned to Makoto. “Doctor, what do you think? Do you think there’s anyone who would betray me?”

“There’s no way.” Makoto said shakily.

“There’s no way,” Cassano echoed him. “That’s true. But you know, unfortunately, there is a traitor here.” Salazar came back with a wood bat.

“In this very room.” The alpha grunted as he swung the bat, practicing his swing. The bat cut through the air easily with a whoosh.

Makoto would be dumb not to run at this moment, but his feet was glued to the ground.

“Hey Doctor, do you know who it is?” He stared up at the omega. The shadows made his face more sinister.

  
“I’ve always wanted to try this. Like De Niro from the Untouchables!”

A high-pitched whine came as Cassano swung his bat. But it wasn’t from Makoto. The omega turned around to see Zapata, the man who was in charge of the money. His face was white, before passing out with a choked gasp.

“You’re an ungrateful man with no balls.” Cassano had swung the bat directly under the man’s legs, taking batting balls to a whole new level.

It was then that Makoto realised his hesitation could kill him.

…

“Why are you working for him?” Makoto said. He didn’t know where he got the courage from, but after that party, it was like someone had slapped him awake.

The unplugged teddy bear thrown on the couch, with Salazar sitting in front of the coffee table and Makoto standing beside him.

“You led your own gang, right?”

“Being a gang boss, isn’t as nice as you think. Doing turf wars, looking after your members, and bribing the police. You can never relax.”

The house was messy. Filled with empty bottles of whiskey, crushed beer cans, Chinese take outs… Was this his definition fo relaxing?

“But why did you join a gang?” Makoto asked. Tom flashed past his mind.

“You’re full of questions,” Salazar took another swig of his nightcap. “I was born in the lowest class. That was my only choice for a normal life. I didn’t have the money or brains for academics. That’s why I want to send Tom to a good college in my stead and give him a normal life. Most importantly, I promised my wife. I need money until then.”

“What a nice excuse.”

“You can’t understand a father’s feelings.”

“Is it really for Tom’s sake?” Or just an easy way out?

“Tom won’t always be a kid.” Like how he grew up, Tom would too. Like how he found out his father was arrested for his misdeeds, one day, Salazar may get caught— and the last thing he wanted was for the boy to find out throw a cold hard piece of metal that projected moving images.

“He’ll know everything someday,” Makoto may be projecting his insecurities on this situation, but he did mean good. He had taken a liking towards the young child. “No, maybe he already feels it and is just acting innocent in front of you.”

“He might be.”

“The one who hasn’t realised what’s important… is you.”

Yeah, it was him that lived under the guise of thinking everything was fine. He had thought his father was a great lawyer with a strong sense of justice… only to learn that he was exactly the opposite of what his perception was.

Makoto was back in his room as he opened the spectacle case. The pair of glasses sat inside.

This time, he was going to save the both of them, _Tom and Salazar_.

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to give me a kudos and comment! ⊂（♡⌂♡）⊃


End file.
